Eddy Alvarez Is In ELITE Olympic Company || 310 To Left Ep. 31

[Music] hello and welcome to another edition of 310 to left it is uh Alex spear from the Boston Globe with me Tom Karen from nesson which is nothing unusual so but maybe we sto saying that completely at the start of the show I think people have have figured that part out nonetheless here we are with a I you know a special edition I I will call this a special edition Alex because we have a what I think is one of the coolest guests that we've landed on the podcast yet uh Eddie Alvarez who who is a Red Sox infielder playing for the wo socks and and he is uh in a rare class of athlete who has competed in in both the winter and summer olympics medaled in both it's a short track speed skater and a a baseball player uh really just a remarkable guy and a great way to talk about the Olympics which is what everybody's talking about Alex it's so cool to be able to connect with with Eddie about this about this moment right like this moment in time that like we all are kind of gripped by right like it's something it's just immediately compelling and to have someone with the experiences that he does across multiple Sports across multiple Olympics uh is is truly amazing and I just also want to give a like give the sense that like this is a special special athlete you say that he's an infielder which is true but the other day I was in I was in Worcester I'm watching him play he goes tracking balls down to the track in right center field uh like it's nothing like he's on skates if will um he moves so he's there's there's a degree of bodily coordination of like of athletic of athletic intuition that exists for him that's truly special and you you understand well if you lock in on him during a game you kind of understand how this is someone who was able to be an Olympian in both uh in both short track skating and in uh and in baseball um and you know just it's it's cool to appreciate uh appreciate someone who's been at those two pin are are you a fan of the Olympics have you been watching many of these games from Paris yeah I've uh I I've been increasingly obsessed with gold Zone and uh and locking in on locking in on it during the entire day like I yes absolutely I it's so so wonderful to watch all of these uh to watch this this kind of funnel of four years into a single moment uh for so many of these athletes and understanding what's what's been invested or not not even understanding right we think we understand but uh it's only the tip of the iceberg you you have you you have a unique appreciation for this though that far exceeds mine right like you you know theame yeah yeah on the winter side you know my very first job out of college was in platsburg New York which about you know 45 minutes or so from Lake plid uh up in the aderan Dex and this was late 80s so it wasn't that far removed from the 19 80 Olympics uh where Lake PL you know eventually everything moved to Salt Lake they built newer and and and better uh facilities but at the time Lake Placid was was still kind of the center of of the US winter sports world and uh I actually began my career every weekend I'd be in Lake plasted covering whatever World Cup event was coming through town that weekend and it'd be it'd be Ski Jumping this weekend bathon next weekend Lou bob sled speed skating and and I will say and I told Eddie this at spring training we didn't have short track speed skating we only had the oval uh and it might be the mo and in all due respect to the athletes it was the most boring thing I have ever covered in my life I mean the it live the 5,000 meter speed skating event is you know they go around once and you're like all right and then you find out they're going to go around 30 five more times you're like all right settle in uh it's going to be a while and and so whoever came up with short track was a genius because you got a little roller derby in there and and you got a little excitement but I do you know I spent a lot of time with those athletes back in the 80s and uh they're remarkable because the US athletes get very little recognition you know they that the Lou guys would go to Germany and Austria and be rock stars uh but back here in the States you know you get one shot and and you know if if you finish fourth in Your qualifier and miss out on the Olympics it's basically four years or a lifetime of of work that you missed out on I mean you missed the opportunity uh and it it's remarkable you know it's not oh well let's go get them next year right it's it's that's it you may never get them again it's a remarkable remarkable existence for these athletes that that is an insane amount of pressure to be you know to be throwing on uh to be throwing on these short bursts of uh of competitive windows but I I am curious do you think that your consumption of the Pas quatch sandwich uh is going to position you for 2028 is there going to be like a competitive competitive eating in the LA games and if so do you think you'll be ready for it yeah if there is a uh intestinal distress Olympics uh I would be a Metalist uh it's I for yeah I mean we I ate it like an idiot on and I spoke with my mouthful I want to apologize mikee Monaco I think was offended that I spoke with my mouthful but it was going to be an inning before I finished chewing that thing uh so we just had to uh speak up it's something it's I will tell you it is something uh it is uh Eddie Alvarez would have to compete in in six different events to work off the calories uh that you get from a a p p squitch uh in Kansas City uh turmoil as a as a competitive sport like Frank Turner would be away the clubhouse favorite like he would he would be might take the odds off the board Tito would be the clear odds on gold medal favorite he was born to be the coach uh of that team but I I just I I instead of a gold you'd be competing it'd be like a Pepto-Bismol pink medal I think that would be uh what we'd go for uh but we digress uh slightly uh you want to get to it let's get to it let's get to it uh great stuff uh this week Eddie Alvarez and again just a quick primer right let's give everybody a quick primer uh he he is one of six athletes to ever walk the face of the Earth who and think of all the athletes who have walked the face of the Earth uh to medal in the winter and summer olympics uh silver in both uh short track speed skating relay I think the 5,000 uh in in uh the Sochi Olympics and then uh the flag bearer for Team USA and a silver medalist in baseball in the Tokyo Olympics I mean truly astonishing what he has accomplished incredible and you know the fact he's also been a major Leaguer in there as well like that's also important to point out that this is someone who took up who basically had been like on and off baseball as kind of a hobby uh he's and then who was able to uh say after he won his his silver medal in the Sochi games in 14 okay I'm going to try I'm going to see if I can advance as a professional baseball player and did so to the point of the Pinnacle of the sport uh getting uh getting experience across three big league Seasons um pretty amazing athlete so Alex not only is he one of only six to medal in both but do you know the only other athlete to to medal in the Olympics and play Major League Baseball uh Jim Thorp I would guess Jim Thorp yes can you imagine being the only other person to do something with Jim Thorp I mean if that doesn't speak to the amazing athleticism I don't know what else does incredible absolutely mindboggling and you know and also like we we held up you know Jim Thorp an iconic figure in American Sports history uh it is wild that is wild company to keep all right let's get to it let's hear from the man himself uh two-time Olympian and again for those of you at home as someone who worked in Lake plaid never forget you are never a former Olympian you are an Olympian for life you always refer to Olympic athletes as Olympians they are Olympians forever so joining us uh our first Olympian on the 310 to left pod well I guess that's not true we've had Tristan cases so we've had other Olympians but uh joining us on the 310 to Left podcast Eddie Alvarez and so we welcome in the perfect guest for these uh last few weeks joining us Eddie Alvarez Olympian uh one of the only people on Earth six athletes ever to medal in both the winter and summer games Eddie thanks for joining the podcast how you doing I'm doing great thanks for having me on Eddie I wanted to jump in with this I I had the pleasure of being in in Worcester this past weekend uh at Polar Park um and got to came over said hello to you and uh and you're sitting you're sitting on the on the floor of the clubhouse watching the gold Zone quad box watching all four metal activities at the same time and so like okay like he is not indifferent to the Olympics going on quite obviously a little bit later I was interviewing one of your teammates in uh in the hallway and we actually had to stop the interview because you guys were so loud screaming at the TV at the TV set for one of the competitions that we couldn't hear each other from a foot away and like I was like what a special thing to be able to see Eddie Alvarez like a a multi-time multiport uh multi-season an Olympic medalist uh going bananas overwatching the Olympics H how would you describe your passion for the Olympic competitions and like how much how much are you uh how how connected do you feel while watching this whole thing oh I'm a huge Olympic fan I've I've been for as for as long as I can remember something that's always been very um that my family's been very enthusiastic about uh growing up always on it's something that we always look forward to and I just so happen to be in a in a sport and and um grow up in a sport that was the the the highest Pinnacle of of reaching that level of that sport was you know getting to the Olympics so um you know just being able to bring that over to to this this side and the baseball side and and have it uh be as excited to watch as I am excited to watch it uh it's really cool to see Eddie I think I told you at spring training my first job was in Lake pla New York or right outside of Lake pla New York back in the late 80s when Lake plid you know it hadn't shifted yet West so you know my my first job was was covering whatever sport was coming into town for the World Cup that weekend right it'd be L this weekend it'd be Ski Jumping next weekend figure skating we didn't have short track back then yet uh but but I always Marvel at the athletes of those Sports because they get their moment in the Sun once every four years you know it's not baseball where you get to go be a professional you know they're going to keep competing in Lou and and L is a big deal in Germany and parts of Europe but not here in the US right so like you live that life as a short track speedcap what is that like you know where where you get that opportunity you know you went through a lot the the the two feet and the surgeries everything you needed to do to get back but you made that Olympics first right you began as the short track speed skater as far as your Olympic career I just think people have no appreciation for the work that goes in for that one opportunity every four years what is that like to to to see that through to become an Olympian to medal in it like that entire experience right yeah it's it's a much different world than the baseball world um I mean we can dissect it in so many ways um but yeah like going overseas and competing is a much different experience and competing what was like uh here in the United States um you know you go to the Netherlands you go to Japan you go to Korea South Korea like it's a it's a whole different world you're walking around like you're part of a boy band kind of thing uh where here in the United States uh you know back home no one knows absolutely who I am or what I've done uh being from Miami Florida no one watches so uh you know it's a much quieter uh living situation I have here in the US and and especially back home um and it's just it's it's cool to watch how the cultures uh blend together during the Olympics too right because you know you start seeing all these other athletes that are playing mainstream Sports here in the United States whether it be basketball baseball football hockey asking about hey look at what's handball what's badminton what's field hockey you know all these Sports you don't really get to see on a day-to-day basis but require just as much s sacrifice required just as much um will and and you name it um just to get that one moment just like you said that one opportunity CU for most of these athletes um you know it's not NE we'll get them next year it's you know we got to wait a whole four years to to be able to to get that opportunity once again that's the hardest thing that I think Olympic athletes have to go through is you know having once their event ends or their career ends it's it's like we got to wait a lot longer than just oh you know what I'll just wipe this year clean and hit it next year and hopefully get the the ball rolling uh and start off on the right foot it's it's more of like oh man four years is a long way to go uh so it's it's difficult in the sense of uh post Olympic depression stuff like it's it's you see it a lot more in Olympic athletes and you do in the mainstream Sports when it's more of like oh okay my career is going to end now now it's time to figure out what to do with our lives it's it's so fascinating to think about that that kind of perspective um you know is that do you think that that's part of the reason why the idea of Switching gears and going to baseball was was appealing to you like was it like you know was it you know after after 2014 when you when you when you when you win silver right like are you like you know did you need to find a different purpose or like how much were you like okay no no no like how appealing was it to to stay in it and say I'm gonna go for Golden 18 you know a um I'm gonna be honest with you I've always told myself that I was going to go to one Olympics and then I was going to retire from the sport of speed skating I love speed skating it's it's um it's taking me all over the world it's giving me unbelievable experiences I've made unbelievable connections friends um and I owe a lot to it cuz you know it it molded it molded me in my early days as as a young man into the man I am today and um you know I owe a lot to speed skating and and what I've learned through that but I always knew that I wanted to go to one Olympics and I was going to call it I was going to call it quits I didn't know that I I was going to make it all the way in baseball to be honest with you I I always knew that I wanted to try um I've always lived my life to have no regrets so I I knew speaking of my family and my coaches that I was going to attempt to play baseball I didn't know how far I was going to make it I didn't know how far I was going to go maybe I would have gone back to speed skating after a couple years after I I had the opportunity of signing professionally in baseball um it was it was a lot of just uh lot of jumping I I I don't know how to explain it I never I never quite uh it's hard for me to explain I've never I never put something to rest completely now that I'm 34 yeah speed skate is probably out of out of my window uh but i' I never put it out like I never just said okay I I'm done I'm done so you know kind of skating was always in my back pocket and baseball was always in my back pocket and I just I I wanted to see where life would take me in both of them yeah well I'd love to go back on that a little bit like please explain like how a kid from South Florida ends up being uh being a speed skater on ice and uh not as strange as you think I promise okay well yeah I'd love to hear that then and also like you know and also like the role like how you did um how how you were picking your own pockets as you were talking about baseball and the speed skating upgrade yeah so I don't know have you ever traveled to Miami in the 90s were you ever in the on that were you in the night I mean it was it's a movie scene right it's you you you see the life outside at South Beach you see everyone on Rollerblades uh a certain type of music genre was playing I mean Miami in the 90s was a beautiful time and I just happened to grow up in that era um my parents would always take me to South Beach on the weekends to go skate and uh uh I became I I became good enough to have attention from a skate shop I was sponsored by a skate shop when I was little I was like a little walking bill or sorry skating billboard uh with skate Sho all over me shirts I you name it and uh I just so happened to be stopped by two recreational speed skaters who said oh my God your son should try speed skating obviously being from Miami we've never heard of that sport and my parents were like okay what is that uh all right we'll try it out a couple years later I became national champion and and that's when the the whole story begins I've I and I don't even know if Alex knows this I again I had a conversation with you Eddie at spr trady but in the in the in the 90s I did play byplay for fling League called roller hockey International and there was a belief that roller hockey going to make hockey a more popular boort in the US and it was the weirdest season because half the league was minor league ice hockey players and half the league were roller Bladers from Miami you know and and some teams you know like South Florida right and and I swear like the first half of the season the Miami guys were were skating circles around these hockey guys because the hockey guys that you couldn't stop there was no hockey stopped there was no you know it was completely thing but but you're right it was a culture in the 90s it was a was sort of yeah it was permeating the entire country yeah it's a it's an it was a culture and I wish it was still culture um but yeah you don't see it it's but it's true I mean things evolve and uh life changes and uh you really just don't see roller Bladers out in Miami anymore we probably won't get a rollerblader turned ice skater from Miami anymore I mean it's it's it's unfortunate but it's you know I I get to hold that proudly I get to hold my city you know or you know represent my city very proudly um you know me and and another a fellow a friend of mine Jennifer Rodriguez who also did the same thing you know she was a step ahead of me uh so I followed in her footsteps um she won you know couple medals in the Olympics turned from inline speed skater to I speed skater and moved to Salt Lake City to train and I did the same thing as her so she kind of paved the way for me uh but yeah it's a it's a I don't want to say it's a dying sport but I just don't see it as much as I used to uh no doubt about it take it and the Olympics themselves right I mean there're so each one is so different uh where it is you know you went to Russia right was and that that was an incredibly dramatic short the speed track that year the short track was just you know the the crash you had in the semifinal and waiting to find out how that plays out like I mean your journey has such crazy ups and downs right the the surgeries you've had to go through to keep playing you respect Sports at different times but even the Olympics themselves like that that that one Winter Games the highs and lows you went through like when were you able to put that in perspective is there a moment where you just sort of can can can put it all in place it's it's there's uh um I the highs have been very high uh I feel like I've gone through way more lows but I I think it's it's normal in life I think we all do we all go through these adversities and hurdles we have to leap through and uh it's just a game it's a game of adjusting right oddly enough I play uh that exact game right now for living uh which is baseball uh but I learned that very young I've learned I've learned to always you know kind of go with the flow and adjust and react um I think life is is just a bunch of different ways to react uh and that's just all I've ever done uh and you know it's it's giving me this beautiful career it's giving me this uh unbelievable Journey uh to the Olympics in both speed skating and in baseball you know to become the flag bear United States to uh represent you know a whole a whole country and to represent my background which is a background of immigrants from Cuba and it's you know it's it's a it's a true American Dream story and I couldn't be any prouder of that that that is so remarkable on on a number of fronts but you know you you mentioned the flag bar like when you went back to the Olympics in 2021 uh as as a member of the of Team USA's baseball team um was when you changed course you said you didn't know how far your career was going to advance as a as a baseball player um how did you approach goal setting and how in terms of just kind of the patience of uh of what the reation being a minor leager um by that quest for for by that quest to become an Olympian that's that's measured in years rather than days uh so you're talking about how I got the opportunity to become a baseball olympion yeah yeah how like how meaningful yeah how whether or not that was part of the goal like whether or not that was at all your on your radar no it was not on the radar whatsoever uh yeah yeah when when I when I you know finished with my Olympics beat skating I figured oh you know I'm never going to get to experience the Olympics again uh and then I was playing that up and down game with the Miami marlands and you know I just so happen to get uh DFA around the right time and I got a phone call from Paul Syler over at USA baseball um that they were interested in me to be a part of the the qualifying team to get the to get Team USA into the Olympic and um I mean just that alone I was super excited about I I had no uh intention or I I didn't know that I was going to get invited to play in the Olympics but when I did I I mean it it was a a shock but it I I mean I was so thrilled I was so excited I get to put on the red white and blue one more time and um yeah I I I love to say that I bleed red white and blue I I'm such a fanatic of the Olympics I'm a fanatic of Team USA I mean you name it I will do it I if I could switch to another sport to represent the United States I would the Olympics again heartbeat but but because nothing is easy we get Co right I mean comes the Olympics gets stopped it gets pushed off there was that sort of limbo you and and all the Olympians were in like what would happen right when will we play will we do will I miss the opportunity what was that like well Tom I mean it's it's not to be honest it it's it's funny cuz if there wasn't covid maybe I wouldn't have been invited to go play on Team USA uh for the Olympics um unfortunately there was and fortunately I had that opportunity to have that extra year to play the business of baseball and uh you know be at the right place at the right time um but yeah the co Olympics the Tokyo Olympics were very high security Co protocols uh we couldn't really hang out we couldn't uh socialize we we were very restricted on what we were allowed to do uh we were pretty much just in our Olympic Village room or apartment uh and then we would go to the stadium and then the cafeteria weight room like we we really couldn't uh hang out as as a group which is what Olympic are you get to blend in with all these other Olympic athletes and uh you know kind of see how everyone functions and socialize and you know get to know people from different sports and learn about their Sports and their careers um there wasn't a whole lot of that in Tokyo uh but you know I got to experience that as SOI uh and I was just I was just proud to be there representing United States well the fact that you were there you know again speaks to you know that's extraordinary accomplishment one of only three people in history uh to take part in in both the summer and winter Olympics for the US uh in uh I mean to medal in both of them um it when you think about uh when you think about your uh how you progressed as a baseball player like what does that what does that say about the elite level of athletes that are taking part in the Olympics like the fact that you know there can be there can be uh athletes who are so talented that they are capable of being at the Pinnacle of sports across multiple Arenas yeah it's it's I mean the Olympics is it's it's the most in it's so hard for me to describe it um just because it's it's such the highest level it's like the highest Pinnacle and such a like great honor to be able to walk around saying that you are an Olympian um you know cuz it's it's it's it's difficult you know if I go back to my skating days I was putting in 6 to 10 hours a day of training 6 days a week 11 months of the year it was a grueling non-stop minimal pay job just for an opportunity to go and skate around for sometimes 40 seconds cuz that's all we get um and and it it's really we don't do it for a paycheck we do it for Glory we do it for um just to give our our inner child that dream that dreamer you know to fulfill uh that that goal that we set for ourselves it's really it's it's a it's a beautiful thing and it's something that I'll never regret um going for ever for the rest of my life but but you know what I love Eddie is what you really exemplify is that you know you're an athlete first right you you you you took to rollerblading and speed skating then you took to baseball and I think you know I've got a couple of adult sons now but they played Sports as kids you've you've got a couple of kids Alex has kids and and everybody whose kids play sports they want you like at eight years old to pick a sport specialize to a sport and follow the the the Showcase circuit now for the next 10 years and try to become a major player right you guys Bo who especially in baseball Mike Bole who did some work with the Red Sox worked with all the the hockey players around the Northeast for a long time strength and conditioning guy they won in 2013 he was part of staff and he said look around that that Clubhouse these guys are athletes who chose baseball they're not necessarily baseball players at Birth you know and I think you speak to that don't you I mean how important is it to just play whatever you get an opportunity play I I think it's some of the most important things you can do as a developing child um I did all sorts of sports growing up from gymnastics to karate to baseball skating basketball swimming you name it I was doing and I think I I owe that to my mother she wanted to keep me out of trouble she did she she she she I would I would come home and i' go to bed is is what it is I would do homework between sessions of all sorts of sports and uh but yeah you know skating and baseball did take priority at a a relatively young age but uh again like I was never steered away from if I wanted to go play basketball uh you know I I was allowed to go play basketball if I wanted to go play any other sport I was allowed to go play any other sport except for hockey which I'm very I'm disappointed my mother for not letting me play hockey because if you get speed skating and you get baseball and you put them together it's freaking hockey all right so my life would have probably been a lot easier if I was just you know I'm not a biggest guy I could have been like a quick one I could put on a few pounds too hoy's been for two years hockey's back in the Olympics in two years Edie the dreams that you know you could go three Tom my window my window closed man I can't that's it unfortunately I don't think I have enough time to develop uh in the farm system of of a hockey beer league maybe maybe maybe it'll start on a Sunday beer league in Miami not that many skaters and then I'll work from there but yeah I'm pushing 40 over here come on now yeah maybe maybe yeah you're you're still young you're still young youve got you got time to get ready for you know you're on every seven years so 2028 in La we'll figure out a sport for you I don't know maybe I'll be a coach or something well I I do so on on the baseball front though like the you know the fact that you that you did pursue this dream in uh this Olympic dream over the course of years um how much has that helped your the way that you've approached your minor league career and allowing yourself because I think that one of the most difficult Parts about about being a minor league player uh and you've obviously been a big leager as well uh in multiple Seasons but you had to work for that for many years right like you spent several years grinding in the minors before you got there how much um were you help how much did that Olympic Journey help you with the patience necessary to continue developing and waiting for that big league opportunity it's built uh resilience it's built um patience and and and trusting in the process um I I honestly uh you know you you you stood next to me well you saw me sitting down but either way you you saw me and uh uh you know I'm not like somebody that catches someone's eye when I walk into a room I'm not a a physical specimen but I I've always been resilient and I've always um I was always willing to prove the naysayers wrong uh uh you you name it uh I've heard I'm too short I'm too little and I don't have enough pop I'm I heard it in skating too I don't think he's going to develop well you know he's not you name it uh but when you set yourself a goal that's you know 48 12 16 years away sometimes you know it's that's that's the Olympic cycle they come in fours and uh the quads are they're long and they're grueling and uh and that that's something I was able to bring over to the baseball world um just to have patience and understand that you know the business side of baseball is is out of my control so control the controllables uh has always been something that I've um I've mastered very young uh cuz I came from a sport that's very unpredictable speed skating you know when you're going 40 mil an hour racing against other other guys um you know it's a sport that's unpredictable you never know what's going to happen it's not always the best guy that wins it's so you know bringing that over to the baseball world and and understanding already what it takes to reach one of the highest levels in sport um you know it it was a deadly combination it was almost like I had a cheat cheet you you posted a picture on Instagram the other day it's a remarkable picture Ashley Green whoy for sock took a great shot of four woox players who all were Olympians uh in Tokyo you and cook and and koh's very should have been five let let's get this right there should have been five but the Red Sox were selfish they were selfish and they took jiren Durant away from all right and I and I have a bone to pick with whoever made that decision but you can continue with the question it has worked out fairly well for Darren just to be clear I mean it's it's yeah yeah whatever Prett yeah yeah allar allstar MVP I mean yeah he's a superstar now whatever still send him a text saying that I hate him I'll follow up on that here in Kansas City tonight we'll get a follow up on that please tell and tell him that I said he's ugly too you ha him and he's ugly there you go I got the I got the lead for the broadcast tonight uh but you know for a lot of us that was sort of the coming out party for Tristan Kus right watching what he did in those games right in hearing about that what take us into that a little bit because you know we we see him now uh but but you saw him really sort of coming together and getting the attention and having the success what was that like and what what's he like you know you know him better than any of us what is Tristan Kus like come on now Tristan K is the gosip yeah I mean it's it's it's he's a unique creature he is he is it's Tristan kasa's world that we're all living in we we just heard in the bus ride yesterday and and you know what I'm here for it give me some popcorn I freaking love it uh but when I first met him I didn't know it right so he it it it took I took a step back to qu to try and uh absorb and process who Tristan cin is as a human being he's unique he's he's unique and uh but I will say he's the some one of the most dedicated people I've ever been around whether it be uh his training regimen his diet regimen um his quirky like routines like whatever it may be it is his his dedication is something that has impressed me from day one because we were Locker mates in uh in carry which is where our Team USA team met up for a little bit prior uh sorry not Carrie verl Beach we met up before our qualifiers in Port St Lucy and he was my locker mate and I mean he had all his protein powders his recovery powders his um vitamins all rode lined up he had all his uh weird tools for his feet ankles knees hips all the way up his body all perfectly KN his locker and I'm and I'm sitting there and I got like my underwear thrown on the floor and uh I got like a glove that's warped into another shoe like it's just you know we're completely different uh human beings I'm just there I'm happy and he's just locked in he's got his headphones in I mean we're all trying to meet each other and Tristan's had headphones in he's just staring into his locker and so I meet him and and uh man he was he was so enthusiastic about being there he he wanted to to learn from all the veteran guys around him and you can tell that this kid was going to be something special even though he he had his own way of doing things you can just tell uh that he was going to be uh what is you know most likely the face of the organization right now uh you know jiren Duran is having an unbelievable year don't get me wrong uh but this is a guy that I would love to build an organization around and uh you know he's he's what he's done is has been incredible and to see what he did in the Olympics you know I had the best seat in the house so uh sometimes I was on Bay sometimes I was in The Dugout but uh it was just incredible to watch at such a young age too I hope I broke it down enough for you I mean it's incredible greatest break ever excuse my language yeah and and I think that I think that we all like you know you're not the first one to uh to think about Tristan and end up like you know dropping a four-letter word um in a in a most in um you have the Olympic being trist yeah Tristan where where're in his world uh you have the Olympic tattoo right like you have the Olympic tattoo on yours I do I do I have a long sleeve shirt on today so and then that I have I have some people around me in this hotel room so I can't take my shirt off uh but I I I will say yeah it's I have rings here if I could stretch my shirt there it is there it is kind of see it yeah when when do you get those like do you get them after competing in the games after you qualify like did you get them as a goal setting thing like when when when is that such a such an fundamental part of your identity that you like I've never been I've I've never been confident enough to ever get something of this uh magnitude prior to getting to the Olympics and competing and seeing what happens I'll never ever I don't I don't I don't have the yeah I don't I don't have the guts for that ever uh so this was definitely after uh I got the after the Olympics and I came home and it was you know the one thing that I I had to ask my mother for permission uh and she she was okay with that but she told me that she would probably disown me if I ever got a tattoo but the fact that she was willing to accept the one and only tattoo that I have to be the Olympic rings um you know it must be meaningful and uh I've always said I've never wanted to put any ink on my body unless it was meaningful I want to ask you finally Eddie as we let you get going but I you know you're a dad now the kids are getting a little bit older starting to be aware you know and I always love talking to athletes who who keep going a couple more years because if nothing else they now get to share it with children right where they're becoming aware of what my dad does is pretty cool right that's it like you know I'm I'm having a a de a relatively decent year you know I'm still in the hunt I'm still in the fire like it if I'm I'm I am an injury phone call way I uh you know I don't want any of that don't get me wrong but my God it's been so cool to see my oldest son who is turning four in a couple weeks here like how he's been absorbing everything that I'm going through right now I I love to see his face he knows that Daddy goes to work and plays baseball he asks me every morning when we wake up he says Daddy can I go to work and baseball with you I mean it's it's so cool to share that with him um and it's something that motivates me to keep going uh um you know if if the wife doesn't kill me by next year maybe I'll keep going but we we're going to find out soon cuz you know season's just around the corner to be to end and um you know I I got a lot of daddy duties to do in the off season uh and then we'll you know once she Cales down and and doesn't want to rip my head off because I'm you know away from her for so long uh maybe I'll ask her if it's okay if I can put on a uniform one more time it's amazing it's fantastic it is such a great story by go ahead Tom the only thing I want to say is that to be clear Tristan kasus would have gotten up and taken his shirt off in the lobby of the hotel to show us the tattoo all right just I know that but I'm not I'm not as body confident as he is so you know yeah I have my sixpack yeah I look you know I got a pretty good pan but I mean you've seen it yoga poses out in in right field oh yes I I just I I don't have it in me it was great stuff thank you for doing this it was really fun yeah no thank you for having me guys and I look forward to one day doing it again yeah thanks for sharing what an extraord extraordinary job you do of sharing the Olympic experience with all of us so thanks for that Eddie and really appreciate it and look forward to that next time absolutely thanks all right Eddie Alvarez we appreciate the time he's the guest on the 310 the Left podcast we'll see you again next time